“Anti-Retro-Viral drugs (ARVs) prolong life and clerics who are encouraging people living with HIV or AIDS to stop treatment are endangering lives,” Dr Chilufya said to the press, adding that he is on the other hand encouraging these same preachers and pastors to do quite the contrary: convince people of the importance of continuing their HIV-AIDS treatments, for their own well-being and that of the ones around them. “We must use the platform [that of the preachers] to reach out to everybody that ARVs are the hope of today and children who are positive must take ARVs,” he emphasized.

There are currently 1.2 million people in Zambia with HIV, of which 850,000 take ARVs.

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